Gergard Arij Ludwig Morgenstjerne Munthe 1875-1927 was originally from Norway, educated at the art school in Dusseldorf.  He was the nephew of the landscape painter Gerhard Peter Frantz Wilhelm Munthe and added the Morgenstjerne, meaning ‘Morningstar’, to his name to distinguish himself from his then more famous relative.  He was most of all a painter of beach scenes and seascapes and moved to live in the village of Katwijk on the Dutch coast, then popular with contemporary painters, in 1901. His highly desirable finished paintings are generally signed with longer versions of his very long name. This little oil sketch, with its more circumspect signature, is perfectly typical of his palette and style.